Adrian Edmondson | The young ones Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia The young ones Wiki Jennifer Saunders (m. 1985-present, 3 daughters) Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English comic actor, writer, musician, television presenter and director. He came to prominence in the early 1980s and was part of the alternative comedy boom. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982–1984) and Bottom (1991–2003), for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaborative partner Rik Mayall . Edmondson also appeared in the The Comic Strip Presents... series of films throughout the 1980s and 90s. For one episode of this he created the spoof heavy metal band Bad News , and for another he played his nihilistic alter-ego Eddie Monsoon, an offensive South African television star. He played the lead role in the 1985 spin-off feature film, The Supergrass.

In the 2000s Edmondson appeared in numerous TV programmes in more serious drama roles including Jonathan Creek, Holby City, Miss Austen Regrets, as himself on Hell's Kitchen and created the sitcom Teenage Kicks . Edmondson has been married to fellow comedian Jennifer Saunders since 1985 and they have three daughters. He lives in Devon and London. Contents Edit Under the name 20th Century Coyote , Edmondson and Rik Mayall became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store . Mayall told most of the jokes early in their act, and Edmondson would act-up in the background, developing his act to dismantle the club's piano, before he created his own material. As their popularity grew, Edmondson, Mayall, and other upcoming comedians including Nigel Planer , Peter Richardson , Alexei Sayle , and French and Saunders split away from the Comedy Store to set up their own venue: The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and soon came to the attention of Channel 4 .

Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in six self-contained half-hour films, using the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. The series, entitled The Comic Strip Presents... debuted on 2 November 1982 (the opening night of Channel 4). The first episode to be broadcast was " Five Go Mad in Dorset ", a parody of Enid Blyton 's Famous Five , which drew anger from some viewers for the way it mercilessly satirised a children's classic. Edmondson starred as one of the five. By the same time as The Comic Strip Presents... was being negotiated, the BBC signed up Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in The Young Ones , a sitcom in the same anarchic style as The Comic Strip. (Richardson later decided not to proceed and was replaced by Christopher Ryan .) The show revolved around the shared house where four students lived during their study at Scumbag College . It was noted at the time of its first airing for its violent slapstick, with Edmondson's character as the main instigator, and this is a trait which has stayed with him throughout his career.

The series captured public imagination and remains one of Britain's most popular sitcoms. During this time, Edmondson also appeared in a bank advertisement in what was, basically, his " Vyvyan " guise. Following the success of The Comic Strip Presents... and, to a greater extent, The Young Ones, Edmondson and Mayall returned to their "Coyote" dynamic in the double act " The Dangerous Brothers " with Edmondson as "Sir Adrian Dangerous" in Saturday Live (1985–1987). In 1983, he appeared as the lead singer Vim Fuego in the spoof heavy metal band called Bad News , with his Young Ones co-stars Rik Mayall , Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson of "Comic Strip Presents...". On 11 May 1985, Edmondson married his Comic Strip fellow Jennifer Saunders , with whom he has three daughters: Eleanor , Beatrice and Freya.

Edmondson's university nickname of "Eddie Monsoon," a play on his surname, inspired the name of Saunders' character, Edina Monsoon on Absolutely Fabulous and his own characters Eddie Catflap ( Filthy Rich & Catflap ) and Eddie Hitler ( Bottom ), they jointly set up their own production company called Mr and Mrs Monsoon Limited.. Also in 1985 Edmondson starred with Saunders in Happy Families , a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family. In 1987, he reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in Filthy Rich and Catflap a comic attack on showbiz, again written by Elton. He played a character called Edward Catflap, the coarse and drunken minder of light entertainment nonentity Richie Rich. In this Edmondson displayed the same slapstick characteristics as Vyvyan, but was closer in personality to his later character "Eddie Hitler" in Bottom. The show received critical acclaim but poor viewing figures and was cancelled after one series. 1987 also saw Edmondson co-starring with Mayall in the ITV sit-com Hardwicke House .

Due to the adverse reaction of both press and viewers however, ITV withdrew the series after two episodes, and the remainder has never been shown. In 1988, he released a follow up to How To Be A Complete Bastard called The Bastard's Book of the Worst. In 1989 Edmondson made an appearance in an episode of Blackadder Goes Forth as The Red Baron , arch-nemesis to Mayall's character, Lord Flashheart . 1990s File:Bottom001.jpg Edmondson played Brad Majors in the 1990 West End run of The Rocky Horror Show , alongside Tim McInnerny as Frank-N-Furter and Ed Tudor-Pole as Riff-Raff. He also appears on the soundtrack album of the production. In 1991, Edmondson was teamed up with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more, this time co-writing and co-starring in their own sitcom, Bottom. Edmondson starred as "Edward Elizabeth Hitler" opposite Mayall's "Richard Richard." The series featured the slapstick and crude humour for which the pair had become famous, but also more in-depth character analysis.

Mayall and Edmonson have said Bottom was aimed to be more than just a series of toilet gags, but a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot about the pointlessness of life. Edmondson played Estragon to Mayall's Vladimir in Samuel Beckett 's play in the West End , in a production that opened at the Queen's Theatre on 30 September 1991. [1] Bottom became very popular, but it was criticised for its often vulgar humour. Edmondson was also censured for essentially reprising the same character he had been playing for his entire career. It was also incarnated into five UK stage tours (1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003). The violent natures of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital. In 1993, Edmondson starred alongside Richard Briers in a black comedy called If You See God, Tell Him . Edmondson played Gordon Spry, whose uncle (Briers) is paralysed and has a greatly reduced attention span. His erratic behaviour causes problems for Gordon.

The series comprised four episodes, each 45 minutes long, and only broadcast once. The BBC has not repeated the series, although 1 episode was broadcast on BBC Four on 3 December 2007. In September 1995, Edmondson released his first (comic) novel, The Gobbler. The same year he voiced "the animal", an advertising character for British snack Peperami . In 1996, he played the role of Ace Face/Bellboy at The Who's performance of Quadrophenia at London's Hyde Park . A video game called Animal , featuring Peperami's "the animal", was released the same year, with the character being voiced by Ade Edmondson. In 1997-1998 he voiced engine stoker Jones, a major character in the animated series Captain Star . In the 1998 ITV Pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, Edmondson played Dame Dolly alongside Neil Morrissey, Denise Van Outon, Paul Merton, Julian Clary and Julie Walters. The show was broadcast on 25 December on ITV1 and continues to be shown every year around Christmas.

Following the 1997 Bottom stage tour, Hooligans Island, Mayall and Edmondson worked on the idea of a Bottom film in which Richie and Eddie run a hotel. The two had been working on the script together, and were set to co-direct. In 1998 Mayall was seriously injured and spent a few days in a coma. Edmondson found this time very difficult. When Mayall came around he helped Edmondson complete the script while still in hospital, but it was decided that he was still not fit enough to direct, so Edmondson took the sole directing duties on what became Guest House Paradiso . Since the 2003 Bottom tour, which ended on 12 December of that year, Edmondson has shown a lack of interest in working with his friend Mayall, claiming he is more difficult to work with since his accident. Template:Citation needed In December 2004 The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted him as saying: "It’s definitely time to stop. We're getting too old. We both realised that the show wasn't as engaging as it used to be. We were starting to look a bit ridiculous.

[...] We're both nearly 50 and we're starting to feel slightly undignified talking about wanking and knobs constantly." [2] Rik Mayall has repeatedly said that they will work together again, they just needed "a good idea." 2000s–present Edit Edmondson appeared regularly in series 4 of the BBC mystery series Jonathan Creek , broadcast in 2003–2004. He had a lead role playing an NHS doctor in the comedy series Doctors and Nurses first broadcast in early 2004. In Surviving Disaster, a BBC docu-drama about the 1986 Chernobyl disaster , broadcast at the start of 2006, Edmondson played the role of Dr Valeri Legasov . In 2005 Edmondson appeared as a celebrity model on Star Portraits with Rolf Harris . From 2005 to 2008 he appeared as Percy 'Abra' Durant in the medical drama Holby City . In 2008 he played Henry Austen in the BBC produced film Miss Austen Regrets .

From 2008 onwards he has played Vernon in ITV sit-com Teenage Kicks . In April 2009 Edmondson appeared on the cooking show Hell's Kitchen , where he reached the final, coming second to winner Linda Evans . In a 2009 interview, Edmondson stated he was 'finally' referring to himself as Adrian rather than his established nickname Ade, as he felt it was time to 'grow up.' Ade Edmondson (Comedian) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Ade Edmondson Male Born Jan 24, 1957 Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian, actor, writer, musician, television presenter and director. Edmonson came to prominence in the early 1980s and was part of the alternative comedy boom. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones (1982â1984) and Bottom (1991â2003), for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaborative partner Rik Mayall.

Edmondson also appeared in the Comic Strip Presents...… Read More related links Photos View newly released photos of Ade Edmondson. Lemmy: The Contrarian Hell Raiser Who Rejected Adoration Guardian (UK) - Dec 29, 2015 ' MotÃ¶rheadâs inimitable frontman, who disowned his genre and disregarded his bandâs totemic status, will remain loved for his articulate grit and realism There is a famous moment of intra-band discord in the Comic Stripâs spoof 1983 rockumentary Bad News Tour. The bandâs frontman Vim, played by Adrian Edmondson, has just airily explained to an interviewer that Bad News are ânot, basically, a heavy metal bandâ. âWeâre more subtle than that,â he says, turning to Bad Newsâ guitarist, âArenât w... Skerryvore Headline At Moonbeams Anniversary Gig Birdlington Free Pass - Nov 21, 2013 ' On Saturday 23 November it will be six years to the day since Moonbeams began.

Named after one of his songs, Chris Helme played to a packed Maple Room. Six years on, organisers say they have had some wonderful times, made lovely friends, gained a Summer and Winter festival and all their favourite artists have played - including Lau, Roddy Woomle, Show of Hands, Oysterband, Martin Simpson, Kris Drever, Ewan McLennan, Edwina Hayes, Adrian Edmondson and The Bad Shepherds, Peggy &amp; PJ and... Bottom Revival Shelved Broadcast - Oct 16, 2012 'The BBC has confirmed that plans to revive Bottom have been shelved after Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall decided to focus on other projects.' Tv Star Adrian Edmondson Cooks Up A Storm On Filming Visit To Louth Louth Leader - May 11, 2012 ' TV comedy star <mark>Ade Edmondson</mark> swapped cooking up jokes for cooking up chine as he filmed his latest show in Louth. ' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Ade Edmondson. CHILDHOOD 1957 Birth Born on January 24, 1957.

TEENAGE 1968 11 Years Old Edmondson attended Pocklington School, East Riding of Yorkshire from 1968 to 1975. … Read More In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement, he stated that he did not enjoy his education at Pocklington. Pocklington Grammar, at that time a rather old-fashioned, all boys public school, halfway between York and Hull. Or York and Hell, as I thought of it at times. What didn't I like? The usual stuff. There were the endless rules distributed in a booklet each year to every pupil - all of which my mates and I made it a personal challenge to break. Edmondson calculated that during his time at Pocklington, he received a total of 66 strokes of the cane as well as frequent slipperings. By the time he was in sixth form, with his parents working abroad, Edmondson began to enjoy himself, "which involved lots of drinking and smoking and petty acts of vandalism." He made some good friends at the school and had a favourite teacher, Michael Aubrey.

Aubrey taught Edmondson for English and encouraged him to pursue drama, casting him in a number of school plays, and allowing him to take time out of other lessons to do drama. After Pocklington, Edmondson went to the University of Manchester to study drama, where he met his future comedy partner Rik Mayall, and graduated with a 2:1 degree. Edmondson and Mayall soon became best friends and before long found work on the burgeoning alternative comedy scene. Read Less TWENTIES 1982 25 Years Old … Under the name 20th Century Coyote, Edmondson and Mayall became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store. As their popularity grew, Edmondson, Mayall and other upcoming comedians, including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle and French and Saunders moved from the Comedy Store to The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and soon came to the attention of Channel 4. Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in six self-contained half-hour films, using the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers.

Read Less The series, entitled The Comic Strip Presents debuted on 2 November 1982 (the opening night of Channel 4). … Read More The first episode to be broadcast was "Five Go Mad in Dorset", a parody of Enid Blyton's Famous Five, which drew anger from some viewers for the way it mercilessly satirised a children's classic. Edmondson starred as one of the five.<br /><br /> By the same time as The Comic Strip Presents was being negotiated, the BBC signed Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in The Young Ones, a sitcom in the same anarchic style as The Comic Strip. (Richardson later decided not to proceed and was replaced by Christopher Ryan.) The show revolved around the shared house where four students lived during their studies at Scumbag College. It was noted at the time of its first airing for its violent slapstick, and the series retains a cult following. During this time, Edmondson also appeared in a bank advertisement in what was, basically, his "Vyvyan" guise.

Following the success of The Comic Strip Presents and, to a greater extent, The Young Ones, Edmondson and Mayall returned to their "Coyote" dynamic in the double act "The Dangerous Brothers" with Edmondson as "Sir Adrian Dangerous" in Saturday Live (1985â1987). Read Less 1983 26 Years Old In 1983, he appeared as the lead singer "Vim Fuego" in the spoof heavy metal band called "Bad News" with his Young Ones co-stars Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson of "Comic Strip Presents ". Show Less On 11 May 1985, Edmondson married fellow Comic Strip actor Jennifer Saunders, with whom he has three daughters: Eleanor, Beatrice and Freya. … Read More Edmondson's university nickname of "Eddie Monsoon", a play on his surname, inspired the name of Saunders' character, "Edina Monsoon" in Absolutely Fabulous and his own characters "Eddie Catflap" (Filthy Rich & Catflap) and "Eddie Hitler" (Bottom).

Edmondson and Saunders jointly established their own production company called "Mr and Mrs Monsoon Limited". Read Less Also in 1985 Edmondson starred with Saunders in Happy Families, a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family. THIRTIES Show Less In 1991, he teamed with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more, this time co-writing and co-starring in their own sitcom, Bottom. … Read More Edmondson starred as "Edward Elizabeth Hitler" opposite Mayall's "Richard Richard". The series featured the slapstick and crude humour for which the pair had become famous but with more in-depth character analysis. Mayall and Edmonson have said that Bottom was aimed to be more than just a series of toilet gags, but a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot about the pointlessness of life. Read Less Edmondson played Estragon to Mayall's Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's play in the West End, in a production that opened at the Queen's Theatre on 30 September 1991. … Read More Bottom became very popular, but it was criticised for its often vulgar humour.

Edmondson was also censured for essentially reprising the same character he had been playing for his entire career. The show was also turned into five UK stage tours (1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003). The violent nature of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital. Read Less 1993 - 1995 2 More Events 1993 36 Years Old In 1993, Edmondson starred alongside Richard Briers in a black comedy called If You See God, Tell Him. … Read More Edmondson played Gordon Spry, whose uncle (Briers) is paralysed and has a greatly reduced attention span. His erratic behaviour causes problems for Gordon. The series comprised four episodes, each 45 minutes long, and only broadcast once. The BBC has not repeated the series, although one episode was broadcast on BBC Four on 3 December 2007. Since 1993 Edmondson has been voicing The Animal in adverts for Peperami.

Read Less 1995 38 Years Old September 1995, Edmondson released his first (comic) novel, The Gobbler. 1996 39 Years Old In 1996, he played the role of Ace Face/Bellboy at The Who's performance of Quadrophenia at London's Hyde Park. … Read More A video game called Animal, featuring Peperami's "the animal", was released the same year, with the character being voiced by Edmondson. Read Less FORTIES BIOGRAPHY: Adrian Edmondson Lifetime twitter BIOGRAPHY Adrian Edmonson is the second of four children. Though born in West Yorkshire, as a child he lived with his family in a variety of places, including Cyprus, Bahrain, and Uganda, as his father was a teacher in the armed forces. Edmonson was a pupil at an exclusive boys school from 11 to 18 years of age. He later went on to the University of Manchester to study drama and received a 2:1 degree. Edmondson met Rik Mayall while studying and, before long, they found work on the burgeoning alternative comedy scene.

Under the name 20th Century Coyote, they became one of the star attractions at the The Comedy Store. Mayall told the majority of their jokes in the early days, while Edmonson acted in the background. As their popularity grew, they and other upcoming comedians, including Alexei Sayle and Nigel Planer, split away from the Comedy Store to set up their own venue: The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip gained a reputation as one of the most popular venues in London and soon came to the attention of Channel 4. Edmondson and the others were commissioned to act in six self-contained half-hour films entitled 'The Comic Strip Presents...'. The first episode parodied Enid Blyton's ‘Famous Five’. At the same time, the BBC signed up Edmondson, Mayall, Planer, Sayle and Peter Richardson to star in 'The Young Ones', a sitcom in the same anarchic style as The Comic Strip. Richardson was later replaced by Christopher Ryan. The show revolved around the shared house where the students lived during their study at Scumbag College.

It was noted at the time of its first airing for its violent slapstick, with Edmondson's character, Vyvyan, as the main instigator. In 1985, Edmondson married fellow Comic Strip performer Jennifer Saunders. The couple have three children: Eleanor, Beatrice and Freya. In 1986, Edmondson achieved a number one hit in the UK singles charts when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed up with Cliff Richard to record a new version of 'Living Doll' for the inaugural Comic Relief campaign. Despite having been killed off in the final episode of the series, Edmondson played Vyvyan one last time in the video. The same year, he co-wrote the book 'How to be a Complete Bastard' together with Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. In 1987, he reunited with Planer and Mayall to star in 'Filthy, Rich and Catflap'. The series was penned by The Young Ones' co-writer Ben Elton and saw Edmondson display the same slapstick characteristics as Vyvyan, but was closer in personality to his later character Eddie Hitler in 'Bottom'.

The show received critical acclaim but poor viewing figures and was cancelled after one series. Edmondson found his next big success when he re-teamed with Mayall for their co-scripted sitcom 'Bottom'. As Eddie Hitler, alongside Mayall's Richie Richard, Edmondson enjoyed three series and several stage outings of the violent antics of two bored unemployed flat-sharing bachelors. He also directed a less successful film version of the show called 'Guest House Paradiso' (1999) in which Eddie and Richie abortively attempt to run a hotel. The pair went on to complete a number of Bottom UK stage tours throughout the 1990s. Edmondson appeared regularly in the 2003 series of 'Jonathan Creek', playing television producer Brendan Baxter, and starred as Dr Roy Glover in the hospital sitcom 'Doctors and Nurses'. He also appeared from 2005 to 2008 as Percy Durant in the BBC drama ‘Holby City’. He finished third in 'Comic Relief Does Fame Academy' in 2005, a charity celebrity version of the BBC talent show, in which he performed comical renditions of various pop songs.

In 2008, he starred as Vernon in the ITV show ‘Teenage Kicks’ and appeared on the cooking show ‘Hell's Kitchen’ the following year. Edmonson reached the final of the programme and took second place after Linda Evans. In a 2010 interview with the Daily Express, Edmonson said that he did not intend to do any more comedy programmes and instead wanted to focus on music. In March 2011, he began hosting an ITV show which follows a number of families living in the Yorkshire Dales. In praise of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's Bottom | Den of Geek Search In praise of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's Bottom Grimy, bleak, extremely violent and stupidly funny, Wil salutes the genius of Ade Edmondson and Rik Mayall's sitcom, Bottom... j The recent passing of Rik Mayall led to legions of fans hitting up Netflix and Youtube to relive the late comedian’s greatest moments.

And while the ground-breaking 80s alternative comedy opus The Young Ones and his turn as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder seemed to be the most quoted on social media, it felt like Bottom, the grisly, profane flatshare comedy Mayall and long time collaborator Ade Edmondson made in the early 90s, was left out of the conversation. Which is a shame, because it might just be their masterpiece. It’s kind of easy to see how Bottom got forgotten. The Young Ones was capital-I Important, not only in terms of breaking alternative comedy into the mainstream, but also as being as much a time capsule of the Anti-Thatcher zeitgeist as The Smiths or Adrian Mole. Bottom, on the other hand, was just two guys being debauched in a flat. Also, The Young Ones was aired on MTV in the USA during the 80s, giving it a small but loyal international following long before American anglophiles swapped torrents of Spaced and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace online. Bottom, however, was rarely shown outside of the UK.

(As an aside, you get the feeling that Mayall and Edmondson were unfortunately too early to capitalise on their success – had they been 15 years later they’d have been popping up in Hollywood productions with as much regularity as Simon Pegg and Ricky Gervais.) Starting in 1991 and running for three six-episode series, Bottom starred Mayall and Edmondson as Richie Richard and Eddie Hitler respectively, two pathetic, desperate men sharing a dilapidated flat in West London. The series spun out of the pair starring in a West End production of Samuel Beckett’s classic absurdist play Waiting For Godot.

(Fun fact: Mayall and Edmondson’s production of Waiting For Godot also featured a young Dean Gaffney in the cast.) While the double act of two guys brutalising each other through violent slapstick is something that Mayall and Edmondson used throughout their career, from their early days as The Twentieth Century Coyote at The Comedy Store, through The Young Ones and even lesser-remembered vehicles such as Filthy, Rich & Catflap, it’s the Godot-influenced existential woes and nihilism which makes Bottom possibly the most interesting thing either of them ever did. British sitcoms have long tradition of focusing on desperate, unsuccessful people, from Basil Fawlty to Alan Partridge to David Brent, and it’s often been said that the difference between UK and American comedy is that the Brits focus on losers whereas the Americans have happy protagonists (well, at least until The Bluths and Larry David came along). But Bottom goes so much further than that. A contemporary sitcom that Bottom has obvious analogues with is Peep Show. Both revolve around two single males sharing a flat in London, nominally failing at life and having an underlying co-dependent relationship with each other.

The central pair in both shows also share similar archetypes – both Richie and Mark Corrigan are somewhat uptight, unsuccessful with the opposite sex and hamstrung by a weird sense of doing what’s deemed ‘proper’ by society; whereas Jez and Eddie Hitler are both reckless, ditch all responsibility and seemingly rely on the other party to sort out all of life’s necessities. Yet Bottom seems like a gonzo, OTT pastiche of Peep Show, despite being made a decade earlier. Mark is eventually able find a girl as lovely and perfect for him as Dobby (even if he ultimately screws that up) and Jez is able to get with the sexy Russian next door (even if he ultimately screws that up as well). Richie and Eddie, however, are violent anti-social losers with no jobs and seemingly hated by everyone they know. Mark Corrigan might be a boring history nerd who’s crap with girls, but Richie is a literal virgin and compulsive masturbator.

Beta-male Corrigan attempts (and fails) to live up to his domineering father’s perception of a real man; Bottom pushes this concept of being crippled by social expectations a million miles further - Richie delusionally insists on doing things the ‘proper, English way’ oblivious (or in denial) to the squalor he lives in, adhering to some nonsensical, parodic stereotype of Britishness – insisting on watching cricket or playing charades at Christmas, despite the fact he’s really a sleazy perv. Jez thinks he’s an amazing musician but its funny because he’s terrible and he should grow up and get a real job; Eddie is a barely coherent, violent alcoholic who drinks cleaning products. One of the bleakest things in the show is that Richie and Eddie are always wearing shirts and ties (Eddie is even usually wearing a suit). Why are they always dressed up when they clearly have nowhere to go? Of course, they look terrible, but it’s what they think they should be wearing, the symbolism of being smart.

No one is coming to see them and no one would be impressed by their dress if they did, but it’s the delusions that they (especially Richie) should be doing what’s proper, regardless of who’s around to check up on them. It’s crushing when you think about it. Richie and Eddie don’t even seem to be friends. Richie tries to be courteous to Eddie due to his own misplaced pompous hubris, but actually just hates his guts for being a lazy drunk, for giving him an empty miniature of Malibu for Christmas, for choosing to eat the entire contents of the neighbour’s fridge when he’s supposed to be stealing their gas supply, and for all the other times he’s ruined Richie’s otherwise perfect plans. Eddie is even more brazen about his hatred for Richie. He actively excludes him from his schemes (like printing fake money), is embarrassed by him when Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog (Eddie’s only two friends) come round, and he’ll gleefully electrocute him or drop a fridge on his face at any opportunity. Yet they seem to rely on each other. There’s nothing to forcing them to stay together (apart from probably not having anywhere else to live), but they stay together anyway.

A decade later Judd Apatow would popularise the bromance concept, but Richie and Eddie are far past that stage. They are a bickering husband and wife who hate each other but have invested too much time together and the only other option is being alone. It’s the sort of relationship you see in 70s sitcoms where the husband can’t wait to get away from the ball and chain and sneak off down the boozer. Richie has long hair and is frequently referred to as she or her, and Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog have a tendency to call him ‘the wife’. In the Christmas episode, Richie even briefly thinks he’s the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary – fulfilling both his delusions of grandeur and justifying why he’s never had sex. (Interestingly, in the episode where Richie and Eddie pretend to be a married couple, it’s Eddie who dons the dress. But even then, he infuriates Richie but flirting with a saucy barman in order to get free drinks.) It’s not just that the two central characters are horrible, hopeless losers. The entire programme creates a beautifully bleak milieu. The show's setting - Hammersmith in West London – is almost a character itself.

It does date the show a little – with average house prices in the capital now hitting £600,000, West London flats are more likely to be populated by yuppies or oligarchs these days – but it’s a surprisingly honest (if totally over the top) portrayal of working class London. There’s a definite through-line from Steptoe And Son, another West London-set sitcom about two desperately unhappy men trapped together with no hope of social mobility (both shows also namecheck Queens Park Rangers). There’s a real sense of tragedy around the show’s cast, not just Eddie and Richie. Eddie’s two friends, the wonderfully named Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog, are equally as tragic. Spudgun is a lonely overweight guy with no personality; Dave Hedgehog (played by Young Ones alumni Christopher Ryan) has a life slightly less terrible – he apparently has a wife and kids, though he constantly seems to be oblivious to the fact he is married, and can’t even remember the word ‘wife’, let alone her name. Dick Head, the landlord of the local pub, is a horrible man who only shows compassion when asked about his (very unsuccessful) trial with QPR.

They are joined by incidental characters consisting of psychotic hardmen, ultraviolent local kids, unhygienic kebab shop proprietors and the occasional normal person, who wanders into the squalor and is disgusted by what they find. It’s a horrible world, rarely portrayed like this in any other medium. Bottom is a show about lonely, middle-aged daytime drinkers who haunt grimy pubs and park benches. It doesn’t glamourise life. It’s nasty, unpleasant, and makes Bukowski look like The Wolf Of Wall Street. It's about sad people trapped in a nightmare of booze and social inequality. In one of its most telling scenes, Dave Hedgehog’s daughter turns up to bring him home, as her mum doesn’t like dad hanging around the “weirdos' house” after dark. We all knew the weirdos we stayed away from growing up. Bottom is about those weirdos. And we’ve gotten this far without mentioning the greatest thing about Bottom – the violence. It’s slapstick in the great tradition of Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges and Inspector Clouseau, but with the violence and gore spectacularly amped up. It does to Laurel and Hardy what Itchy and Scratchy does to Tom and Jerry.

Every episode explodes into several moments of staggering violence, with Eddie’s legs being chainsawed off and stitched back on the wrong way, fingers being lost, umbrellas being gouged into groins, and genuinely sickening burn make-up after someone is in an explosion or set on fire (which happens rather regularly). Mayall and Edmondson really sell the physical rough and tumble of it, really throwing themselves at each other – in 2004 Edmondson told The Mirror that over the course of their career they ended up in casualty five times, just from taking things too far. The fact that they suffered real injuries puts the show more on a par with something like Jackass or hardcore pro-wrestling, getting a gut physical reaction out of the audience as opposed to just laughing at slapstick. While The Young Ones wasn’t exactly short on such violence, it was relatively bloodless. Bottom, on the other hand was not shy to have blood (and even limbs) splattering everywhere. Mayall and Edmondson’s comedy definitely evolved from slapstick to splatterpunk - there’s stuff in those 18 episodes that Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi would be proud of. It’s not just that it’s hilarious, though.

Combined with the desperation and depression of the subject, the extreme violence takes on a transgressive dimension. The depiction of the situation Eddie and Richie are stuck in, one which many lonely, drunk people are in real life (albeit not the in the hyper absurd reality of Bottom), is presented as so soul-crushing that nihilistic violence is the only means of release. It’s a common literary device, from A Clockwork Orange to American Psycho, but it’s heady stuff for a 90s BBC Two sitcom. Due to a lack of international exposure and its crude subject matter, Bottom will probably always be treated as somewhat of a guilty pleasure. And to a generation of kids who were probably too young to be watching (myself included), it will always be that amazing show with the violence and the dirty jokes. But just as The Young Ones is critically acknowledged to be a clever TV programme pretending to be a dumb one, so was Bottom. It deserved to be re-evaluated, as it had far more going on than just Rik Mayall being kicked in the nuts. Rik Mayall being kicked in the nuts is pretty brilliant on its own, though.

Rik_Mayall Rik_Mayall Mayall (right) with Ade Edmondson in Bottom Birth name 7 March 1958 (1958-03-07) (age 54) Harlow, Essex, England Sidney Mayall (b.1988) Bonnie Mayall (b.1995) Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall (born 7 March, 1958) is an English comedian and actor. He is well known for his comedy partnership with Adrian Edmondson and his over the top, energetic portrayal of characters. He was one of the pioneering members of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. Contents 4 References Early life Mayall was born in Harlow, Essex to Gillian and John Mayall. [1] When he was three years old, Mayall and his parents — both of whom taught drama — moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, where he spent the rest of his childhood and performed in his parents' plays. He studied drama at the University of Manchester where he met his future comedy partner Adrian Edmondson in 1975.

Here he also met Ben Elton and Lise Mayer, with whom he would later write The Young Ones. Career The alternative comedy boom Mayall gained a reputation by appearing at "The Comedy Store" with Edmondson, debuting in 1980. The double act was then billed as "20th Century Coyote". "Coyote" soon became a popular act at the Comedy Store, and Mayall developed solo-routines using characters such as Kevin Turvey and a snotty student poet named "Rick". This success led to Mayall and Edmondson - along with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle and other popular acts French and Saunders; "The Outer Limits" (Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson); Arnold Brown; and Pete Richens - to break away and set up their own comedy club, "The Comic Strip", in the Raymond Revue Bar, a local strip club. Mayall's rising popularity led to a regular slot for the Turvey character on the series A Kick Up the Eighties, which was first broadcast in 1981. His appearances were popular enough to warrant a documentary based on the character entitled Kevin Turvey - The Man Behind The Green Door, broadcast in 1982.

The previous year, he appeared in a bit role in An American Werewolf in London. Meanwhile, fledgling Channel 4 offered the group a series of six short films. The series became The Comic Strip Presents... and debuted on November 2, 1982. The series - which continues sporadically to this day - saw Mayall play a wide variety of roles and picked up a reputation for anti-establishment humour, and for parodies such as "Bad News On Tour", a spoof "rockumentary" which starred Mayall, Richardson, Edmondson and Planer as a glam metal band. The Young Ones At the same time The Comic Strip Presents... was being negotiated, the BBC took an interest in a sitcom written by Mayall and then-girlfriend Mayer, in the same anarchic vein as Comic Strip. Elton, who had attended Manchester University with Mayall and Edmondson, was asked to join the writing team. The series was commissioned and the first series was broadcast in 1982, shortly before Comic Strip began. Mayall played his "Rick" character in the series, a sociology student and Cliff Richard devotee, to wide public acclaim.

Despite the sitcom format, Mayall maintained his double-act routine with Edmondson, who starred as violent punk Vyvyan. Planer and Christopher Ryan also starred, with addition material written and performed by Alexei Sayle. The show's first series was very successful, and a second was commissioned in 1984. Household name Following The Young Ones, Mayall continued to work on The Comic Strip films. He also returned to standup, starring on Saturday Live - a British adaptation of the American Saturday Night Live - first broadcast in 1985. He and Edmondson had a regular section as "The Dangerous Brothers", a pair of daredevils, who would perform comedy stunts on stage. In 1985, Mayall debuted another of his comic creations. He had starred in the final episode of The Black Adder in 1983 as "Mad Gerald". The series had proven expensive and a second series was not forthcoming until it was agreed that the budget would be cut and Elton would replace Rowan Atkinson as co-writer (alongside Richard Curtis).

The "re-vamped" Blackadder proved an enormous success thanks, in part, to the inclusion of a character named Lord Flashheart, played by Mayall, in the series' first episode, "Bells". Despite being on screen for mere minutes, Mayall's performance as the boisterous heart-throb Flashheart proved very popular and raised Mayall's public profile further. The character was given a bigger part as Squadron Commander Flashheart in Blackadder Goes Forth in 1989. A similar character, also played by Mayall, would appear in 2000's Blackadder: Back and Forth under the guise of Robin Hood. In 1986, Mayall joined forces once more with Planer, Adrian Edmondson and Elton to star in Filthy Rich & Catflap as "Richie Rich" in what was billed as a follow-up to The Young Ones. While he received positive critical reviews, viewing figures were poor and the series was never repeated on the BBC. In later years, release on video, DVD and repeats on UK TV found the series a cult following.

Mayall suggested the series did not last because he was uncomfortable acting in an Elton-written project, when they had been co-writers on The Young Ones. [2] The same year saw Mayall achieve a number one hit in the UK singles charts when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed up with Cliff Richard to record a new version of "Living Doll" for the inaugural Comic Relief campaign. Mayall played Rick one last time in the subsequent stage show and has supported the Comic Relief cause ever since. That year, Mayall appeared on the children's television series Jackanory, on which well known-faces read children's stories. His crazed, anarchic portrayal of Roald Dahl's George's Marvellous Medicine proved one of the series' most memorable performances. [3] However, at the time, the BBC received complaints "with viewers claiming both story and presentation to be both dangerous and offensive." [4] In 1987, Mayall undertook his first major solo project as fictional Conservative MP Alan Beresford B'Stard in the sitcom The New Statesman for Yorkshire Television, written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.

The character was a satire of Tory MPs present in the United Kingdom in the 1980s and early 1990s. The programme ran for four series - incorporating two BBC specials - between 1987-1994 and was a success both critically and in the ratings. In a similar vein to his appearance on Jackanory, in 1989, Mayall was the star of a series of "bit" shows for the BBC called Grim Tales, in which Mayall narrated Grimm Brothers fairy tales, while puppets acted out the stories. He also lent his voice to the Playstation video game Hogs of War. Bottom Main article: Bottom (TV series) In 1991, Mayall and Edmondson co-starred in the West End production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Queen's Theatre. Here they came up with the idea for their next project, Bottom. Mayall and Edmondson have said Bottom was intended to be a cruder cousin to plays like Waiting for Godot. Bottom was commissioned by the BBC and three series were shown between 1991-1995.

Mayall starred as "Richard 'Richie' Richard" alongside Edmondson's "Eddie Elizabeth Hitler". The series featured their trademark slapstick violence taken to new extremes. The series gained a strong cult following. In 1993, following the second series, Mayall and Edmondson decided to take a stage show version of the series on a national tour. Bottom: Live was a commercial success, filling large venues. Four additional stage shows were embarked upon in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003, each to great success. The violent natures of these shows saw both Edmondson and Mayall ending up in hospital at various points. A film version, Guest House Paradiso, was released in 1999. A fourth TV series was also written, but not commissioned by the BBC. Other activities in the 1990s Mayall achieved transatlantic success in 1991's Drop Dead Fred as the eponymous character, a troublesome childhood invisible friend to a now-grown woman. Mayall's performance proved popular, even though the film was critically panned.

He also appeared in Carry On Columbus (1992) along with various alternative comedy alumni. In 1993, he appeared in Rik Mayall Presents, a series of six individual comedy dramas. Mayall's performances won a Best Comedy Performer award at that year's British Comedy Awards, and another series was broadcast in early 1995. In 1995 Mayall co-starred in a production of the play Cell Mates, alongside his friend Stephen Fry. The production was to prove immensely troublesome for Mayall. Not long into the play's run, Fry suffered a nervous breakdown and walked out of the production. He fled to Belgium and remained missing for several days. The play was forced to close shortly afterwards. In a 2007 interview, Mayall said of the incident: "You don't leave the trenches... Selfishness is one thing, being a cunt is another. I mustn't start that war again." [5] It is reported that Mayall and Fry are now friends again.

Edmondson would later poke fun of the event during their stage tour Bottom Live: The Big Number Two Tour, when, after Mayall gave mocking gestures to the audience and insulted their town in a silly voice, Edmondson said "Are you done yet? It's just I'm beginning to understand why Stephen Fry fucked off!" Towards the end of the run of Cell Mates Mayall revealed a replica gun — a prop from the play - to a passer-by in the street. He was later cautioned over the incident. Mayall later conceded that " I have been incredibly stupid, even by my standards. " [6] Quad bike accident On April 9, 1998, Mayall was seriously injured after crashing a quad bike near his home in Devon. He was in a coma for several days. Various media sources reported the comedian was "seriously ill". Mayall's daughter Bonnie and her cousin had asked him to take them for a ride on the bike - a Christmas gift from his wife - but he was forced to refuse due to rain, and proceeded alone. Some time later, Mayall's wife Barbara looked out the window and saw him lying on the ground with the bike, at first believing he was joking.

Mayall was airlifted to Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, where it was discovered he had suffered two haematomas and a fractured skull. During the following 96 hours, Mayall was kept heavily sedated to prevent movement which could cause pressure on his brain . His head injuries were so severe that his family was warned he would either die or possibly suffer brain damage . [7] On the fifth day, doctors felt it safe to bring Mayall back to consciousness. In his 2005 spoof biography, Mayall claims at this point he "rose from the dead". During Mayall's hospitalization, the Comic Strip special Four Men in a Car was broadcast for the first time on TV. The film involves Mayall's character being hit by a car. Mayall had a long road to recovery and believed he was being held hostage by the staff at the hospital. After being transferred to a private hospital in London, he "escaped" and took a taxi to his home, but was taken back to the hospital later that day after being sedated by his doctor. He was also supposed to take medication to prevent epileptic fits for a year until doctors felt the threat of fits related to his condition had passed.

Mayall stopped taking the medication a few months later. As a result, he suffered one or two epileptic fits. During one such episode, he bit through his tongue. He is now on the medication for life. Mayall eased his way back into his career by doing voice-over work. His first post-accident acting job was in the 1998 Jonathan Creek Christmas Special, as DI Gideon Pryke. Both he and Edmondson have subsequently joked about this event in the various stage versions of Bottom. The pair wrote the first draft of their feature film Guest House Paradiso while Mayall was hospitalized. [8] They originally planned to co-direct, but following the accident, Edmonson took on the duties himself. Post-recovery In 2000, Mayall appeared in the video production of Jesus Christ Superstar as King Herod. He joked in the "Making of" documentary, which was included on the DVD release, that "the real reason why millions of people want to come and see this is because I'm in it! Me and Jesus!" In 2002, Mayall teamed up with Marks and Gran once more when he starred as Professor Adonis Cnut in the ITV sitcom Believe Nothing.

However, the sitcom failed to repeat the success of The New Statesman and lasted only one series. Following the 2003 Bottom: Live tour Bottom 5: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts, Mayall stated that he and Edmondson would return with another tour. [9] Shortly thereafter, however, Edmondson told The Daily Mail that he no longer wished to work on Bottom. This effectively dissolved their nearly 30-year partnership. Edmondson claimed they were "too old" to continue portraying the characters. Edmonson added that, since Mayall had recovered from his coma, he was slower on the uptake and it had become more difficult to work with him, as well as citing that due to taking medication, Mayall had been advised to stop drinking alcohol. However, Edmondson said that the pair remained very close friends. [10] In the 2005 poll The Comedian's Comedian, Mayall was voted among the top 50 comedy performers of all time. Mayall released an 'in-character' semi-fictionalised autobiography in September 2005 entitled Bigger than Hitler, Better than Christ (ISBN 0-00-720727-1).

At the same time, he starred in a new series for ITV entitled All About George as the eponymous character. Mayall reprised the role of Alan B'Stard in 2006 in the play The New Statesman 2006: Blair B'stard Project, written by Marks and Gran. By this time B'Stard had left the floundering Conservatives and become a Labour MP. Following a successful two-month run in London's West End at The Trafalgar Studios in 2007, a heavily re-written version toured theatres nationwide, with Marks and Gran constantly updating the script to keep it topical. However, Mayall succumbed to chronic fatigue and flu in May 2007, and withdrew from the show. Alan B'Stard was played by his understudy, Mike Sherman during his hiatus. At the start of The New Statesman's Third Run at the Milton Keynes Theatre in Mid-July 2007, Rik Mayall was reported to be "un-well" by Theatre Staff, and would be absent for at least the whole of the Milton Keynes run of shows. However, Sherman played the role of B'Stard in place of Mayall.

It has often been reported that Mayall was cast as the poltergeist Peeves, in the first of the Harry Potter films in 2001 [2]. Comments by Mayall suggest that material for the role was filmed but cut from the final film for unknown reasons. None of this footage has reached the public domain thus far. Mayall currently performs the voice of the Andrex puppy in the UK TV commercials for Andrex toilet paper. Mayall also does an advert for Essex FM (where he talks about the legendary BMX BANDIT). Personal life Mayall married Barbara Robbin, a former make-up artist from Scotland, in 1985. They have three children: Rosie (born 1986), Sidney (born 1988) and Bonnie (born September 18, 1995). Mayall met Robbin in 1981 while filming A Kick Up The Eighties. At the time, he was in a long-term relationship with Lise Mayer. Mayall and Robbin embarked on a secret affair which lasted until 1985 when Mayall learned that he had impregnated both women. Mayall and Robbin immediately eloped to Barbados.

Mayer would later suffer a miscarriage . Mayall maintains that, despite a longstanding feud, he and Mayer are now friends. [11] References Bottom - Show News, Reviews, Recaps and Photos - TV.com EDIT Richard Richard & Edward Elizabeth Hitler, two men with no hope of fitting in with society. Two men who will forever fall foul of life's little jokes, mainly because they are too stupid to avoid them! Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall take an anarchic look into the lives of these two friends who are forever threatening, and committing, violence on each other. This series could be said to be a follow up, of a kind, to The Young Ones. Same stars and same attitude but the young ones are now heading into middle age. A successful series that spawned three live tours [and three videos of these shows] and a big screen film, Guest House Paradiso. Although the film was not released as such it is advertised as a Bottom film on the video release.

Question: What was the name of the character played by Ade Edmondson in the 1990s sitcom ‘Bottom’?
Answer: EDWARD ELIZABETH HITLER